When It Happened
by MysteryGal5
Summary: (spoilers for The Heir) Everything was completely fine for her until her heart attack stopped and the world around her completely shut down. See the story of America before, during, and after her heart attack. (Maxon x America)
1. Chapter 1

**This idea was written a LONG time ago and I originally got it from _This is Us_ because I'm a self-proclaimed sadistic piece of trash. Anyways, I hope you enjoy!**

 ** _Note_ : I'm no doctor so I literally googled what happens during a heart attack.**

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When It Happened:

I huff a sharp breath, blowing a curl away from my line of vision. It only falls back into the place it was before, forcing me to just brush it behind my ear with my hand. It's inevitably going to fall back, I know, but I need to be as focused as I can right now.

Maxon's currently sitting at his desk, talking on the phone with representatives in Swendway, discussing how we can possibly improve our already-perfect trading system with them. Many of our palace officials are in here as well, helping with my husband's mountain loads of paperwork that nearly flood his office. I stand by Maxon's side, listening to verbal reports, signing/initialing/stamping where necessary; all with the sound of the notary's scribbling all that's being said in the background.

I pity the notary's job due to its extreme level of difficulty, but I also admire someone who can manage to keep up and manage to get everything written down (and with incredible and legible penmanship too).

I'm finding it so hard to focus on what's being said to me. My eyes are so heavy but I manage to keep them attentive enough so the officials don't question how tired I am. I simply can't let Maxon work alone, I won't allow it. I still need him with a head full of blond hair. It's not like they're telling me anything new; it's all just information regarding the ongoing post-caste discrimination.

That makes me able to feel the pressure building and tightening in my chest. Even though it's been going on for a while, it still gives me anxiety. My own country is tearing itself apart because of an initiative Maxon and I planned and we don't know what to do about it. We thought putting Eadlyn in the spotlight with a Selection process of her own would tame the lions but some are still wild. This is a problem I don't want to drag on any longer, especially when Eadlyn will be queen. I don't want her to have to clean up a mess her father and I made.

Huh...Queen Eadlyn...

Now that's a thought that will one day be a reality.

I take slow and deep breaths. I really need some fresh and cooling air to relax my insides, but that requires opening up one of the windows and even the slightest breeze will cause the piles of loose papers to go flying. Maybe I just need a change of topic.

"How's Eadlyn's Selection going?" I ask the palace officials.

I put a hand on Maxon's shoulder. Still talking on the phone, he spots me a glance. With a raised eyebrow, I slight nudge my head to the new discussion. Maxon politely ends his phone call to listen in on it. I lightly brush away that pesky strand of hair, and I feel that it's a bit damp. My fingertips linger on my forehead for a few seconds longer and I feel a layer of cool sweat.

Weird.

Probably nothing to worry about.

As I hear the reports of Eadlyn's progress with her Selection, I can't help but smile. I am beyond glad to see my daughter cooperating with an idea that she was profoundly against when Maxon and I first proposed it to her. Sure, we did it with our own intentions in mind, but is it too much or too selfish to say that she might _actually_ be enjoying it?

I feel Maxon lightly squeeze the hand I rested on his shoulder. It catches me by surprise but I smirk at him lovingly, returning the same gesture.

Then, a guard bursts into the office. A few of us jump a little (including me) and the notary drops everything he was writing with to the floor. The guard didn't knock so his reason for such an action must be extremely important which is terrifying. I find my grip on Maxon's hand tightening as my free hand has found its way to my heart. The guard straightens his posture and gives us all a second to calm down before saying anything.

"We have just received word from France's royal officials," the guard says. "Prince Ahren has gone there and has eloped with Princess Camille de Sauveterre!"

-o-

Something snaps in my brain. I can't hear anything except for the constant screaming inside my head. People are talking to me but I only see their mouths move as their faces begin to blur. Everything involving my country and my kids is happening so quickly that I couldn't process what's going on.

My heart begins pounding as my head spins. I want to bring a hand to my head to ease it but the thought of doing that makes my arm hurt.

And suddenly, everything freezes.

The cool sweat from earlier begins running down my forehead, my hands, and basically my whole body. My head spins even faster and focus can barely keep up. My knees get weak as I feel an almost calming wave surge through my body, making it feel as if I could fall apart at any second.

That's when I suddenly lose control of my body and feel myself begin to fall. I hit the ground with a thump that echoes in my mind. Various papers fly all around and land all over the place. Everyone explodes all around me. I can feel the floor vibrate due to all their jumping and running around. Their screams are muffled. Though I can't make out anyone's voice in particular or what they're saying, I can tell that they're panicking.

Except one person remains familiar to me.

He throws himself to the ground beside me. He puts his warm hands around my cold head and I can see the fear through the lines on his face. His mouth is moving and I think he's saying my name.

"America...!" I finally hear Maxon mutter - or scream. I can't really tell which is alarming.

I want to respond but I can't. I can't feel or move anything. I can't stop my eyes from closing no matter how much I resist.

"Get a doctor!" Maxon yells, though it only sounds like a distant echo to my ears. "Get someone!"

Everything goes dark.

-o-

The world goes dark.

I feel myself shift through an infinite void until I feel weightless as if I was falling back with nothing to land on anytime soon.

The unknown sounds begin to fade away. Were they people? Machines? I don't know. Does that matter?

Then, there's a splash making my skin fill up with goosebumps. Ice water envelopes me, inundating my lungs. Now, there are hands pulling me, dragging me. More hands... Who are they? Where am I going? What's happening?

I hear a cart's squeaking wheels and people running by my side. Bright lights pass overhead in rhythm behind my closed eyes.

 _"Clear!"_

My body shoots up as an electric current passes through. It falls limp once it's gone.

The outside voices and sounds came back but now it feels as if they're getting further and further away.

 _"We're losing her!"_

But among the faze, one voice manages to ring clear out of the silent void. It's the most important voice of them all.

"America!"

Maxon.

My Maxon.

My Royal Husbandness.

He sounds helpless, desperate, afraid...

When his voice fades away, different ones appear instead.

 _"Prepare for surgery!"_

And then again, only darkness with no feeling.

-o-

"The surgery was successful," an unfamiliar voice says."Now, she must only rest."

"She should've been resting this whole time," I hear Maxon respond gruffly. "I made her work too hard."

"Don't blame yourself for this, your Highness. This runs in her family. It was better for it to have happened now while her body was able to fight against it."

 _I had a heart attack..._

I lost my father and sister to one and now I had one. What are the chances of my children getting on so young at this point? Or possibly younger?

My children! Oh, my children... I want my children!

A sudden beeping noise fills the room. My heart begins racing and I feel myself shaking my head and breathing hard. I hear both men run over to both sides of my bed.

"America, darling," Maxon says calmingly, his touch is cool and soft against my suddenly hot and tense body.

"She's in shock," the other voice (a doctor, maybe?) says.

"Calm down, my dear..." Maxon tells or pleads to me.

How can he say that?! Where are our kids?! I just had a heart attack! I can't be calm!

I feel a cold substance travel through my veins. It automatically relaxes my bones and muscles as my head sinks back into my pillow.

-o-

The fluorescent lights and soft voice cause my eyes to flutter open a little.

There's a man sitting by my bedside. His elbows are propped on the edge of my bed, sleeves of his button-up top rolled up to the crease of his elbows. His head is looking down, his fingers messed up in his hair. He's muttering something inaudible to himself. His voice is much deeper, his face covered in lines, and hair slowly turning from sand to snow.

It's Maxon, but I almost don't recognize him. He's stressed, tired, worried, aged - much different from the prince he was when we first met. As Maxon and I got older and had our kids, a part of me always wondered who out of the two of us would go first. Seeing that I had a heart attack before I hit forty, I think I answered my own question.

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 **Wow. That was quite the rollercoaster.**

 **Thank you all for reading this. You could go check out my other stories. Please leave a review telling me what you thought and if you have any separate story ideas, tell me and I will probably write it.**

 **~ MysteryGal5**


	2. Chapter 2

**I really should be studying for biology but I hate the subject with a passion so I am here instead.**

 **Due to popular demand and because a lot of people do not know what a 'one-shot' means (jokes, I love you people), this story is now a two-shot. That, and a lot of you actually requested for a part where America wakes up and after thinking over it so did I.**

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Darkness is all I could see for what feels like an eternity. I don't remember much of what happened since my thoughts and understanding of time drifted in and out of consciousness. I only remember being carried away, people in chaos, screaming, pain - and then I passed out - hearing Maxon calling my name.

Darkness surrounds me until I wake up, blinded by yellow lights flickering above me. My ears are ringing, but I could make out some muffled voices next to me as well as a hysterical one. It's Marlee clasping her warm hand on my cold one desperately. It doesn't take me long to fall back under. I don't think anyone noticed my eyes opening since it was only for a second. I barely realized it happened myself.

Darkness is where I hear someone call for me.

"My Queen, do you know where you are?"

Darkness...

-o-

A gentle touch caresses my forehead, its warmth against my cool brings me back to the surface. My eyes slowly flutter open as I inhale as deep as I can. Never in my life did I expect the scent of a hospital to be reviving, revitalizing. My eyes look over to where the warmth is coming from since it is something I crave so badly right now. In my peripheral vision, I see Maxon and force my head to turn so I can fully look at him without any blurry spots.

Maxon.

By my bedside with his head in his hands.

Maxon.

My Maxon.

I've missed his warmth so much.

I need to speak but my throat feels like sandpaper. I won't let the scratchiness stop me. I've already been through enough and the pain that will come with talking is nothing compared to how I ended up in a hospital bed.

"What...happened...?"

My voice is soft and obviously sounding like styrofoam being crushed, but the message still gets across. Maxon looks up at me in disbelief. He looks like a completely different person. I see weakness, fear, and a whole medley of other emotions in those eyes as they look into mine. Oh...my poor husbandness... I can't even imagine what this must have felt like for him. I was unconscious so I barely felt a thing, but he had to witness everything and it definitely broke his heart.

"America..." Maxon mutters, his voice slightly cracking. "My dear, my darling dear, you're awake."

My smile is weak and genuine. My heart feels heavy but it carries a good kind of weight this time. He leans forwards to kiss my forehead and it has never felt as good as it does now.

"You had a heart attack..." Maxon tells me, holding one of my hands with both of his.

I expected that and knew it but still, it hurts to hear because saying it aloud makes it truer then leaving it to be unsaid. Sadly, it only takes experience for that to be realized.

Tears start welling up in Maxon's eyes. He blinks and they fall willingly; he doesn't even bother to wipe them away.

"Oh my god..." Maxon mutters. "I might have been hysterical this whole time but I have the absolute right to be. It was just so scary. When we reached the hospital wing, all doctors were on you. According to their tests, you were suffering from dilated cardiomyopathy, a progressive heart muscle disease. It caused your left ventricle, the main blood-pumping chamber to be enlarged and weakened." He takes a deep, shaky breath. "It prevents the heart from filling up with blood. Fainting is a prominent symptom but there's the risk of blood clots and...sudden death."

My eyes do the nodding. That was a lot to hear at once and it felt as if all those words just went over my head. Again, saying it out loud only makes it truer.

"Imagine that..." I whisper. "My heart was too big."

My smile curves more this time and so does Maxon's which is all I wanted. I know he's been on-the-edge this whole time so I just want him to feel positive.

He blinks away another set of tears. "It feels as if my heart started beating again for the first time."

"Mine too," I respond.

"Whoever said real men don't cry have never been in love before." He lifts my hand and kisses it softly. "We're going to be okay, my dear."

"We all will..."

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 **And this was the happy ending this story deserved. Thanks to all the people who wanted this or who just got here and read this far. Please feel free to check out my other stories and even recommend one for me to write.**

 **~ MysteryGal5**


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